Santa Fe International Literary Festival

Florida is the setting and inspiration for Carl Hiaasen's novels, which are populated with characters and storylines inspired by the state's bizarre news. He speaks at the Santa Fe International Literary Festival on Saturday at 9 a.m.

The Santa Fe International Literary Festival begins today with various conversations with local and visiting authors from across the country. KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios spoke with Laura Paskus, an environmental writer and former “Our Land” host for New Mexico PBS. Paskus told KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios that people’s perspectives on environmentalism has changed since she first started reporting in 2002.

The Santa Fe International Literary Festival begins this Friday and among the authors on the schedule is Navajo Nation Poet Laureate Jake Skeets. KUNM spoke with Jake Skeets, who just released his sophomore collection of poems titled “Horses.” It explores the meaning of the end of the world through a Navajo lens, and Skeets said he started writing it during the pandemic while teaching at Dine College in Arizona.

The Santa Fe International Literary Festival begins next weekend from May 15-17 and among the array of authors speaking; screenwriters will also be in attendance discussing how books get adapted from print to the big screen. KUNM spoke with Diné screenwriter, filmmaker and actor Dezbaa’ who plays Helen Atcitty on AMC’s Dark Winds. Dezbaa’ said she started out working as a geologist and earning her degree as a screenwriter before she got her big break.

Some big names in the 2026 lineup are Judy Blume, who wrote Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Ada Limón, who is a former U.S. Poet Laureate, Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns, Alison Bechdel, creator of the Bechdel-Wallace Test, and even Danny Rubin, who wrote the film Groundhog Day and will be part of a screenwriter panel.

Author Patrick Radden Keefe will be at the Santa Fe International Literary Festival, which starts on Friday May 17. His books include “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty,” and “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland."

Irish author Colum McCann kicks off the second Santa Fe International Literary Festival Friday. He’s the author of seven novels, including “Let The Great World Spin” and “Transatlantic” and has won numerous awards. McCann’s books have been set all over the world, but they have common themes of human connection and the reparative power of storytelling. He tells KUNM that sometimes he chooses these topics and sometimes they choose him.

Diana Gabaldon, the mind behind the popular ‘Outlander’ and Lord John Grey series, will be a featured speaker at the Santa Fe International Literary Festival –– which runs May 19-21.

The Santa Fe International Literary Festival runs May 19-21, and will bring together authors from all over the world, among them Moroccan-American writer Laila Lalami.